Photo Credit: CBS
By Reice Shipley on

The Las Vegas Raiders fell to 2-8 on Sunday in a 34-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins. And to make matters even worse for them, one of their star players fielded a question that the organization seemingly didn’t like, which led to them prematurely ending his media availability for the day.

Rookie tight end Brock Bowers provided one of the few bright spots to come from their Week 11 game, hauling in a career-high 13 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. In the process, Bowers became just the second tight end in NFL history to record multiple games of 10 or more receptions as a rookie.

However, Bowers may not have made the Raiders organization too happy with Bowers about his touchdown celebration choice, mimicking Donald Trump’s signature dance after scoring on a 23-yard reception in the third quarter.

Naturally, Bowers was asked about the celebration after the game by Safid Deen of USA Today Sports, saying that he got the motivation to use the celebration after seeing Jon Jones do it on Saturday night following his knockout victory in the UFC 309 main event.

“I’ve seen everyone do it,” said Bowers. “I watched the UFC fight last night and Jon Jones did it. I like watching UFC so I saw it, and thought it was cool.”

Seems like a relatively harmless answer right? There have in fact been numerous players doing this exact celebration in recent weeks, including Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith and Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

 

Well, the Raiders seemingly didn’t think so. After this question, the Raiders abruptly ended Bowers’ media availability for the day, according to Safid Deen.

On top of that, video of the answer from Bowers has not yet been posted on the Raiders team website or their YouTube channel.

The only postgame videos that were shared by the Raiders were separate pressers from Antonio Pierce and Gardner Minshew, along with a joint locker room video including Maxx Crosby, Jackson Powers-Johnson, and fellow tight end Michael Mayer.

Maybe it is just a coincidence. But the Raiders sharing video of the postgame comments of Michael Mayer, who had just one catch in the game, instead of Brock Bowers following a career-best game certainly indicates that they either didn’t appreciate Bowers’ celebration or his answer about it in the presser.

Either way, it is a particularly puzzling approach from the Raiders. Especially considering longtime owner Mark Davis previously said that he would not be asking his players to stay away from political discourse when it comes to Trump.

[Safid Deen on X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley